Claret MTV

Our school principal and assistant principal asked me to come up with a presentation for our Orientation day with parents. The theme is that what are the Claretians doing in and out of the campus. This is what I came up with. It was presented during the past four consecutive Saturdays. On the first Saturday, I just came-up with a 5 minute presentation for the Freshmen, then I came up with a 7 minute presentation on the second Saturday and on the last and final day I ended up with a 16 minute presentation. During the weekdays I kept on digging up more photos and video clips that I have taken this last school year. So actually you can say that this whole video took 1 year to finish it. When it was done well I guess the best payment that i got was when a parent went to the microphone during the open forum and thank the teachers for a very entertaining presentation.
Well it took me one year to finish this so why not watch the entire 16 minutes and tell me what you think about the video.

Here's the full screen (highly recommended):







Watch the Video

Here's the mini screen:

PTN E-PALS Project

I was about to post this last July 12, unfortunately we had problems with our internet connection. Well here it is:
It's a rainy day today. There's a typhoon and a humungous traffic along Commonwealth Ave. and it took me a long time to get to school only to find out that there’s even a bigger traffic in U.P. Village. All cars and school buses going to our school were entangled due to some streets with knee deep water. Hey give me a break it’s my birthday! I have to go around several blocks just to get through and avoid the traffic mess.
The rain must be a blessing, the good news is that a new baby is born today also. It’s the PTN E-PALS Project http://www.epalsproject.blog-city.com an. electronic collaboration through a shared writing space (blog) for students and teachers around the world initiated by the Pinoy Teachers Network. Kudos should go to MARISOL CRIBE ANGALA, PTN Director, Washington DC for implementing the project so fast.

Yehey!!! these were the shouts from my students. I was just about to finish writing this and the announcement just came in. Classes are now suspended this afternoon due to rising flood water and heavy rains in Quezon City. Our fun was short-lived when we opened the television in our faculty room, we saw rescuers digging in at which looks like a scene from the Leyte mudslide but this time its along Magsaysay Road a busy major street in Baguio City. Cars and houses buried underneath the mud. Let’s pray that no one was hurt.

Happy 1st Anniversary PTN!

Where have many of our best teachers went? In the United States of course! However, these group of teachers abroad (including me, although I'm still sticking it out here) wants to make a difference. We only want the best for our children's future. These children are not just our real children but as well as our hundreds and thousands of children in our classrooms. Whether that would mean working abroad or staying in the Philippines, Pinoy Teacher's Network was organized a year ago to come up with an on-line teachers' community support group. Sharing not only their expertise in their field of work but most especially in comforting and helping one another.I could just imagine how it is to be lonely and feeling at a lost in a foreign land for our Filipino teachers. Here comes PTN with open arms with their generous projects among them; the giving of winter clothes to newly arrived teachers who have just sold just about everything that they own or borrowed lots of money just to get to America. This simple act of kindness perhaps could never be seen in any other culture except among Filipinos would be long cherished by these teachers. "Nagtutulungan kahit saan ka man" We just hope and pray that all of you will succeed in the path that you have chosen and that one day, you will share whatever blessings that you have back here in the Philippines not only to your own relatives but as well as to the millions of Filipino children all over the country who are underfed, who had no classrooms, no books, no chairs and now not even enough good teachers because they are now in America.
I pray for the leaders of PTN to always have the energy and determination to continue what they have started and I hope more teachers will join and actively participate in the months and years to come.
I am proud that I was among the first to have signed-up to join this group and have a chance to interact with Filipino overseas as well as local teachers. They have become my friends and will remain a part of my life.

Claret MTV2005-2006-Gradeschool

This was presented during the recognition day last March. I guess most of my video works here are retros. It's not easy to create these videos. It requires a lot of time and effort. I have lots of effort only if I have the time! This one is a collaborative work. It is only now that I appreciate the reason why at the end of every movie that I get to see, there are a lot of people mentioned in the credits not just the main characters but more so behind the scenes. I love the song that was used here, its from a Vaseline commercial.

A letter from Nathalie

Here's a very nice letter from a mom.

Dear Rox,

I rarely am able to visit blogs these days, but I was drawn to
yours. Despite words of consolation, for me, death is always a
saddening experience. More so when the death involves a child. I am
a teacher, but am a mother first, and old fashioned as it may sound,
I've always hoped that parents will never have to bury their own
child. Just the thought of losing one's own child is just too heart
wrenching and I can't even begin to imagine actually losing one.

For a very long time now, I have never cried as much as I did when I
viewed your powerpoint presentation for Andrew. I couldn't help but
run to my own children and held them tight in my arms. Andrew
reminded me again of my own mortality.. of how easily my loved ones,
my children, my family can be taken away from me.. of how I should
never take things, and more importantly, people, for granted.

For months on end, I have been working like there is no tomorrow,
when what I should be doing is spending time with my children, like
there is no tomorrow. Though I am lucky to be able to work from
home, I have been spending most of the day, and night, and day, and
night again, working on my computer-- barely managing to check my
son's homeworks and nursing my 3month old baby. Andrew made me think
hard..If I lose my job, I'd just get another or concentrate on my
business, and the company will likewise get a replacement. But if my
children loses their mother, that would be a tragedy, and a greater
tragedy it would be if I lost any of my sons. There simply cannot be
any replacement.

Rox, Andrew will be a part of our family's prayers, may he find
peace in the arms of his maker. I will also pray for the miracle of
healing,this time, for his family, for you, and for everyone else
that Andrew has left behind.

Sincerely,
Nathalie

Dear Nathalie,

Your letter was one of the most touching that I have ever received. Indeed all of us parents work so hard for the future of our kids. We worry so much for the future that we sometimes forget that there is something more that our children need and that is our most precious time. When I try to look at the faces of my two kids when I arrived home at night (I have two boys, Blaise is eight and Vint is two) I just wish that they remain as kids forever.




But I guess that is impossible. I’m just enjoying them while they are young. As if nothing is more important to them than a “pasalubong”, even if its just choknut, or a piece of donut, they don’t care! Children are not brand conscious you know. It’s only the adults who do that. You can just see their faces light up when I arrive. I guess it’s the idea that I remember them while I was away from home and what little surprises I will bring that excites them. I treasure every minute of it that I spend my time with them. I can also see the gloom on their faces when I tell them I am too tired to play with them or read them a story. What more if they become teenagers and I ignore them when they need me.

Don’t you ever believe in the saying that it is the quality of time and not the quantity of time that you spend with your children. That is so wrong! It should be both, if you have a teenage son or daughter and you just see each other eye to eye on weekends, then better check their friendster account and chances are, you are not counted as one of their friends. Proof: I just made an instant survey to my second year students just now. In a class of 42 students only one have his mother’s account. That’s understandable since most parents I guess don’t have a friendster account. A follow up question was: Do you ever write something about your family’s regular activities in your friendster journal? Only 2 said yes. What I’m trying to say is that teens nowadays have their own lives and parents are being alienated from their lives even in these day of modern communications. And if we bury ourselves further with our work we are the ones who are shutting the door to our children and we will regret it sooner or later.

Let me just end my reply to your letter with these words from Veronica Shoffstall:

“After awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand & chaining a soul & you learn that love doesn't mean possession & company doesn't mean security. And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts & presents aren't promises & you begin to accept your defeats with your head up & your eyes ahead with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child. And you learn to build your roads today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans & futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight. After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much so you plant your own garden & decorate your own soil instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure that you really are strong & you really do have worth & you learn & you learn..."

Thank you very much for your prayers. I wish you and your family the best of health.

p.s. Don’t worry so much about the future, the future will take care of itself. Let’s just kiss and hug our children today and say we love them. By the way I’m going to post your letter on my blog , I love it! And I want to treasure it. I have another video clip. Please try not to cry on this one. Its about courage and fighting against all odds. Well I hope after this one I’ll make people laugh instead of feeling sad. This is the link: http://roxclaret.blogspot.com

Yours truly,

Rox

True Faith

Christian Ilao graduated at the top of his high school class of 309 students. It was a difficult and near impossible climb to the top. He was in and out of the hospital due to his kidney problems and when he was released from the hospital a week later he got afflicted by the deadly dengue virus. With nothing left but his determination and faith in the Lord he overcome all his challenges.

Andrew, a friend to everyone.

Last Friday we commemorated Andrew Mate's 40th day after his death. I'm supposed to stop this blog last summer but what happened was something else that I will remember for the rest of my life. How ironic that my topic is all about fun, but now I'm writing a sad story. I just have to do this to get it off my chest, aside from the school principal giving me the task of coming up with a digital presentation during Andrew's wake, it has affected me so much. I wasn't even able to drive my motorcycle for a week after the incident.

Andrew Mate, our incoming fourth year student together with three other classmates were on their way home last May 17, 2006 from an UPCAT review when the Honda civic car that was driven by his classmate hit a bulldozer along the Katipunan Flyover in Quezon City. One who was seated at the back of the driver's seat came out with minor bruises, the three others suffered head injuries and have to undergo surgical operation. The four of them were initally brought to the Quirino Memorial Hospital but later on the three were transferred to St. Lukes and Pasig Medical Center. Andrew's injuries were severe that the doctors did not allow him to be moved out.One was discharged from the hospital the following day, the other two underwent brain surgery and have to recover from the hospital for more than a month in the hospitals. He was actually seated at the back but he insisted to be seated in front to the point that they even have "bato-bato pik" who get's to seat beside the driver.
The traumatic thing for some of us teachers was that during the time that we visited Andrew at the hospital last May 19, we thought that he was already out of danger, however when we arrived the doctors were giving him CPR while his father and his younger sister watched helplessly. After 30 minutes of futile attempt to revived him, he expired. He had a broken brain stem, the degree of damage was rated from 1 to 12. In order for a person to have a greater chance to survive, he must have at least 6. Andrew's degree of damage was 3. I never imagined in my entire life that I would ever see a 16 year old boy dieing before my very eyes.

Yesterday was the 40th day of Andrew's death and it so happened that it was also his 17th birthday. It was an extra ordinary day for all of us. Our fourth year students who were batch mates of Andrew were all there including all his teachers, family and friends. We offered a mass for Andrew. During the homily, our school director told the boys that this is a hard lesson to learn for teenagers. I guess kids today think that they are like the superheroes in the current computer game craze called Dota. After a hero dies, he comes back again and continue fighting his enemies. That lesson should also go to parents. Please dont give the keys to your car if your son is underage. Loving them doesn't mean giving them all the material possession that you could posssibly give.

But the best lesson was about to unfold. The tense moment of all was when Andrew's mother came face to face with the three other survivors. The three of them stood up and in front of everybody apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Mate. They too have suffered a lot, two of them spent a month in the hospital and their parents have accumulated hospital bills amounting to more than P500,000 each. They never knew that their friend died not until the day that they were released from the hospital.

Will Mrs. Mate who was in the U.S. when it happened would get mad at the boys? Will she hate them? Well, that was not the case, she hug each one of them. Everybody in the room were tiery eyed. All the fourth year boys became so quiet. Well actually not quite, I could hear a lot of them sobbing. It was a gesture that have sent shivers to everyone, especially to these boys whom Andrew have considered as his barkadas. Mrs. Mate said "Andrew have loved you guys when he was alive and there is no reason for me to be angry. No one wants this to happen" I know the guilt feelings in them have all sudddenly been removed. Mr. and Mrs Mate are members of Couples for Christ and their only son and only daughter are active members of Youth for Christ. With their strong faith in God, they have found the strength to forgive.






Tintin, Andrew's 16 year old younger sister, a third year high school student at the School of the Holy Spirit became the darling of the crowd. She was calm and very confident when she related how her Kuya was her idol. She followed every dance steps his brother knows, the way he plays the guitar, among others. They both shared their dreams together. They plan to buy a house beside one another where they plan to have their own families someday and their own children playing together. They plan to share their "ulam" and can immediately borrow money from one another But now she will have to carry on with their dreams by herself.
It was not all a sad day as Tintin made everybody laugh when she shared a story. When Andrew had a Sophomores night in school she was her date cuz Andrew was too shy to invite other girls. She cancelled all her gimmicks that night just to be with his brother and then when she arrived she was frustrated to find out that many of the boys dont have dates. Our assistant principal even noticed that instead of bringing dates they brought hamsters and trading cards instead.




It's Andrew's 17th birthday. Everybody sang!!! and of course the family blew the candles on the cake.



One remarkable person that I have to mention here was Andrew's fourth year guidance counselor, Shella Fabregas, she went an extra mile to help the family. And during the program she even dressed up in a Claret school uniform, because Andrew wore his school uniform when he was cremated. I guess that's how we love this school so much.
She also came up with a presentation and I'm still trying to figure out how I can upload a 150 mb powerpoint presentation for free without cutting it into pieces. Help anyone?



For those who don't know Andrew. He is a young man full of life and vigor, an active member Youth For Christ, a very religious person, he could have been another one of our alumni Bo Sanchez, praising God and spreading the Good News. Aside from that he is a good dancer and most of all a friend to everybody. As his mother shared to us. Andrew doesn't mind if you are rich or poor, bad or good, a genious or not. Here's a short glympse of his life and death and I hope we can find meaning to his death. Although he had lived a short life, he became an inspiration to his classmates and an ideal son.









Here's a nice story that might help explain death to young people.

WATERBUGS AND DRAGONFLIES

(A Parable of Death As A Transition To A Better Afterlife)

by Doris Stickney
Pilgrim Press, 1982 New York

Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft muc on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.

"Look!" said one of the water bugs to another. "One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?" Up, up, up it went slowly. Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn't return. "That's funny!" said one water bug to another. "Wasn't she happy here?" asked a second water bug. "Where do you suppose she went?" wondered a third. No one had the answer. They were greatly puzzled.

Finally one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered its friends together. "I have an idea. The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why." "We promise," they said solemnly.

One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up, he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water, and fallen onto the broad, green pad above.

When he awoke, he looked about with surprise. He couldn't believe what he saw. A startling change had come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly.

Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. By and by, the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were, scurrying about, just as he had been doing some time before. Then the dragonfly remembered the promise: "The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or she went and why."

Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water. "I can't return!" he said in dismay. "At least I tried, but I can't keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I'll just have to wait until they become dragonflies, too. Then they'll understand what happened to me, and where I went."

And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful world of sun and air!

Personnel Day

Teachers and staff of Claret took a break and headed for Splash Mountain, a mountain resort in Calamba and had lots of fun. Sorry for the shaky hands, I guess its from too much water from the pool or SMB.

iblog2 Summit

I was there at the iblog2:The Second Philippine Blogging Summit held last Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at the U.P. College of Law, Diliman, Quezon City. To sum up the activities in one word it was a "blast"! Not to miss this rare opportunity for my ever dependable web team members , I brought along Mike Ong, Austell Tumampos, Miguel Qujano, Gerard and Pagsu. It was a little too late to ask for transportation allowance from the school so I told them its KKB. But in the end , Mrs Nicdao my co-teacher and I shoulder all their expenses. It's good that the organizers thought of providing free snacks and lunch for all the participants. Wheew! that saved the day for us. Can you just imagine feeding growing boys, especially Pagsu who weights in at 200 pounds.
We came in late as usual, I still have to give last minute instructions to my Robotics class in school on what they are supposed to do.

When we arrived at the crime scene, I mean the venue, there were people milling around at the lobby. Were just in time for the snacks!! Ok boys dig-in! After the boys have been fully recharged, we went inside the Sta. Ana Room. Wow! this building was built in 1911. And just take a look at those massive walls. I guess back then, the cost of materials were cheap and less corruption, he he. The room was impressive, its like a small AVR with the chairs arranged like your in the balcony of a theatre. At least for a day I experienced how it felt to be a law student here at U.P.
Back to the topic. The current speaker on the floor was Dr. Ronald Meinardus of the Fredrich Naumann Foundation. Too bad, they were already giving him the certificate for being their guest speaker. So i can't comment on what he said except that he is blond!

The next speaker was Joel Yuviencio, from De La Salle University-Canlubang his topic was about "Blogging for mere mortals" Well, he narrated how he got into blogging, moving from the basic blog to a more sophisticated blog. I love the name of his blog http://joelogs.blogspot.com.

We then moved on to Anton de Leon http://antonisat.blogspot.com, his topic is the one closest to my heart, its about "how to make your blog funny and humorous". His looks is already funny, so he immediately got the attention of his audience, including my high school boys. Hey, they are one of the most hard to please crowd in the audience!. Here are his 3 tips to writing humorously.

1. Be witty- it's not the joke, its how you say it.
2. Humor makes whatever subject looks like your joking. Meaning people tend to take things
at a lighter perspective.
3. The readers reaction are limited. Not all people will laugh at your jokes, some will laugh at it at a later time (delayed reaction) and some may not even laugh at all. But don't get offended by it otherwise don't try to attempt to crack a joke if you're "pikon yourself".

Well, those words were the best sound advice for the day.

Here are two other worthy speakers worth mentioning on my blog, first is Dean Alfar http://deanalfar.blogspot.com , wow man! he is really way ahead of the pack. Imagine writing a novel in 30 days and using the blog as a medium to write it. His presentation was terrific. He is just one of those guys that will inspire you to continue blogging. Well let's see if he has enough convincing powers to make me continue writing for more than a week.

The last one which I told my students to wait until she was able to make her presentation was Ms. Sarah Gagatiga , a fellow member of the Pinoy Teacher's Network. She was introduced as a Librarian of Xavier and finishing her masters at the University of the Philippines. Her first salvo was to make a correction on a typographical error on the program and asked the audience if there were educators around. I saw several hands raised. Her topic was about blogging in education. She was very scholarly, lots of facts and figures came out of the LCD screen. The one that I could recall was that, that the latest survey showed that 51.5 % of bloggers are in the 13-19 age group. So now I know that I belong to the minority! I'm glad she mentioned about Pinoy Teacher's Network and Marisol Angala, I guess what was

lacking in her presentation was the way she delivered it. If you may allow me to use one of the tips of Anton de leon, -its not the joke, its how you say it. It would have been more effective if she have shared some anecdotes or actual experiences that she had in the course of blogging in education. And maybe sprinkle it with a few humorous stories. Like what was the first reaction of her students when somebody posted a comment on his/her own blog and stuff like that then she would have a more lively audience.

Well that's all folks. Hey Janet I've done my homework! Hope this blog get's updated before our next seminar. He he.

Blog Sense

Today's weather is really hot. Just like our workshop on blogging which begins early this morning at Microsoft's headquarters at 6750 Ayala Avenue. After making several wrong turns and passing through several labyrinths and underpasses in Ayala we finally made it to the 16th floor were Microsoft's office is located. We saw the familiar warm smile of Janet and that erased all our anxiousness of what's in store for today with our summer workshop. The main topic for this three day workshop is all about blogging. The style that I'm going to use is "Breathe" Because that's exactly what I need to do in this class. "Breathe all I can" cuz, Janet is at my back hounding like a hot momma making sure that everybody will get it right!!! We'll good luck everybody. I'm glad to see new faces at last. That means there were new schools who have joined this exclusive circle of Cyberfair Philippines 2006 winners. I view this workshop as a gift for us from Janet for us teachers for doing our jobs well. And just like in the previous workshops that we had in the past. I'm sure we will learn a lot so that we can share it to our students when we get back to our classrooms in June.